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Primitive Man – Caustic (2017)

Primitive Man – Caustic (Relapse Records, 06 October 2017)

The world is an ugly, ugly place. Virtually everything and everyone in it is awful. At least, that’s often how it feels. And at such times, it can be helpful to have something pleasant and soothing to comfort you. But it can also be helpful to experience something every bit as ugly and awful, like a giant mirror that reflects the misery and vileness, and just drown yourself in it. Denver’s Primitive Man are pretty far from serving the former purpose, but boy do they ever make up for it as the latter.

That Relapse-relased record that dropped this past October is what we’re addressing today. Read about it, then watch a couple videos (but not at work, or at school, or near any small children, or in public, or around your parents, or in church…) and then finally, down at the bottom of this post you’ll find an extensive list of upcoming shows all over North America, the United Kingdom (with a one-off expedition over to Israel in the middle) and then all over North America again!

Primitive Man in Pittsburgh, July 2016

The twelve tracks comprising the oh-so-aptly named Caustic simply drip and ooze with liquid hatred and pain. But such syrupy thick, mucky and sludgey liquid — more feedback and crunchy distortion and dissonant buzzing than anything that could be mistaken for melodious or musical. With tempos wavering between a middle-paced trudge through a slow creeping crawl through a gruellingly glacial dirge, this is not an album likely to inspire levity or jollity. And with many of these songs approaching or exceeding the ten minute mark, it can certainly be quite a bit to endure the whole way through.

As always, the acrid icing upon the igneous cake is guitarist/vocalist Ethan McCarthy‘s unearthly howling and ungodly roaring. The scorching raw emotion that spews forth could be enough to make any listener wonder if they are hearing someone possessed by unnatural forces. Although by every account from anyone who has interviewed the guitarist and prolific bandleader, he is one of the nicest human beings you could meet. So it would seem that producing such intense music serves well as a means of catharsis — channeling all of the anger and frustration and vitriol that could otherwise manifest elsewhere in one’s daily life. I can’t say for sure whether that’s true, but I can attest that throwing on some headphones, turning the volume way up, and blocking out the terrible entirety of humanity (at least for the 77+ minute duration of this record) can definitely have that effect on you as a listener.

If somehow you find yourself living too far away from any of the band’s 4,000 or so upcoming tour dates (see below), or if you’re just a lazy and/or antisocial piece of shit, you can always pick up a copy of Causticright here.